ONE Fight Night 21: Two-sport champion Regian Eersel could face toughest challenge to date

ONE Championship lightweight Muay Thai and Kickboxing world champion Regian Eersel returns to the ring this week – but could face the toughest fight of his ONE career. The Netherlands native has swept all before him in a perfect 10-0 ONE record, including some of the strike game’s biggest stars like Nieky Holzken and Sinsamut Klinmee – both of whom he has defeated on two occasions.  ‘Immortal’ by name, and seemingly nature, Eersel has maximised his limb length to devastating effect with a highlight reel of kicks and flying knees to his name.  He is also the only person to have held his current titles – having claimed the inaugural edition of both – the kickboxing crown in 2019, and the Muay Thai belt since 2022 – with an impressive six defences between the two. Such was his dominance of the divisions that many had touted title reigns well into the future – however there may now be a challenger with the requisite skill set to test that theory. This week, at ONE Fight Night 21, Eersel will take on a fellow European in France’s Alexis “Barboza” Nicolas.  While Eersel may be accustomed to the ONE right, this will only be Nicolas’ second contest with the world’s biggest martial arts organisation, but don’t see that as a lack of experience. The 25-year-old dominated the European kickboxing scene with his traditional savate style, racking up an impressive 22-fight win streak which caught the attention of the ONE matchmakers.  Having seen off the challenge of Magomed Magomedov in his debut, Nicolas is now thrown in with the biggest shark in the water – with the chance to turn a rough upbringing in some of Paris’ toughest areas into a fairytale world title win. ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas takes place Saturday April 6 4am GST at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, Bangkok. This is an event not to be missed so mark your calendars, tune in to the fight on BeIN Sports, download the ONE Super App, and go to watch.onefc.com now!